BALTIMORE — On Sunday night, chaos was unfolding in Little Italy.
Trash cans, door decorations and dumpsters were all set ablaze.
Parked cars weren't spared from the damage either.
Police: 'Brave citizen' helps detain arsonist charged with string of dumpster fires
It all happened so quickly, neighbors like Annie Burns say it hardly felt real.
"Just kind of shock honestly. A little bit of panic 'cause I haven't experienced anything like that before," Burns said. "Just ran down the street checking our cars, checking our neighbors' cars."
While some helped to put out the flames, Tony DeMarco took it upon himself to try and track the guy responsible down.
"We don't need that here. You can't have anybody walking around the streets setting fires on houses that are attached to old people's buildings," he said. "That's the scary part."
Safe House Privacy LLC., which now operates the new neighborhood's security camera system, reports the fires began around 10:16 p.m.
The Little Italy Neighborhood Association established the system early last year thanks to a state grant under a different contractor. Safe House has since expanded it, and added new cameras, one of which caught the suspect in action.
Video shared with and reviewed by WMAR-2 News shows the alleged arsonist, now identified by police as 29-year-old Kyle Scott, setting fire to what appears to be a makeshift shelter in Mince Alley. Additional video, according to the company's report, captures Scott kicking several cars' side door mirrors.
Hopping on his bike, DeMarco began patrolling the area and found Scott in an alley behind Kneads Bakeshop, where he says he saw him begin to "torch" another dumpster.
"I made a very serious threat, you're either going to get your ass kicked or you're going to jail but it's going to happen tonight and he took off running down the alley," DeMarco said.
A vigilante chase of sorts began, with DeMarco following Scott for several minutes.
"I'm screaming to everybody, he's right here, he's right here," DeMarco said.
Though it was against the advice from 9-1-1 operators at the time, he's now being called a "brave citizen" by the Baltimore Police Department for helping to detain Scott until they arrived.
"When they finally pulled up on the guy he literally just sat down and put his hands behind his back," DeMarco explained.
He's not the only neighborhood hero to emerge from the chaos as more than once a bystander jumped into quick action to put out the flames.
"Definitely a welcome to the neighborhood," newcomer Madi Wingert said. "A little bit of a shock, but it's the city so things happen and you just kind of have to be prepared for the unknown."
Wingert and Burns say that's how they met their next door neighbors, as they helped to put out their fiery trash can.
They and many others are feeling grateful for choosing to live in the close-knit community.
"I live on the ground floor so, that could have been all my belongings, could have been my dog, dad if he was home at the time that happened. So, really scary to think about," neighbor Sam Jones said.
Scott is facing multiple counts of arson, according to police. He has previously pleaded guilty to a 4th degree burglary charge in 2024 according to Maryland case search.
He's also been listed as homeless previously.
